. >> the white house drew its own line in the sand and said tax rates must go up on the top earners, but -- >> the middle-class tax cut should be made permanent. >> president obama stayed out of the fiscal cliff discussions and sat down for lunch with former rival mitt romney. >> i am sure they will or have already compared experiences on the campaign trail. >> today president obama hits the road to push for his plan to avoid the fiscal cliff. but republicans have slammed him for campaign-style politics that they say just won't get the job done. rob and sunny, back to you. >> can you really imagine that they're not going to reach some sort of deal to avoid the fiscal cliff? i mean that would be so unpopular across the nation. >> you would -- if you can take an action that would solve the problem for 98% of the country and then come back to the debate about the wealthiest 2%, let's get that first chunk done. republicans fear they could lose leverage if they cave in on the middle-class issue. apparently the president, his team has made increased demand here including, a provision now,